Android Apps

Windows Phone

Market Watch Top 10: After YCS Atlanta

YCS Atlanta is over, and we're already beginning to see the fallout in the
TCGplayer Marketplace.

There were 17 Pendulum Magician decks in the Top 32, falling to 11 in the
Top 16 and 5 in the Top 8. Three of those decks made it to the Top 4,
culminating in a mirror match Finals. Bolstered by Heavymetalfoes
Electrumite, the new standard build seems to be Supreme King Magicians with
Supreme King Dragon Darkwurm and Supreme King Gate Zero. But we also saw a
Magician FTK in the Top 32, Mythical Beast Master Cerberus builds, and even
a very cool monster-heavy version that felt reminiscent of the Monster Mash
decks of old.

Magicians are clearly the number one archetype in current competition, but
with so much variation it's not so much a deck-to-beat, than a
“decks-to-beat, plural.”

The next most successful theme in the Top 32 was Trickstars with 5 seats,
but only 2 made it to the top 16, and only 1 of them made it to the Top 8
before the strategy was eliminated from the tournament. Players clearly
came prepared for the matchup. The rest of the strategies caught more
players unaware.

While 3 True Draco variants made the Top Cut, with 1 making it through the
Top 32 all the way to the Top 8. 2 Dino Lightsworn Zombie decks survived
the Swiss Rounds, and one survived to the Top 16 before being knocked out.
Invoked placed 2 Duelists in the Top 32, but neither made it to the Top 16.

Calvin Tahan got ABC's into the Top 32 but didn't get any further. One
Metalfoes deck got to the Top 8, piloted by Nicholas Petzold, and Imran
Khan reprised his previous success as the only SPYRAL player in the Top
Cut, getting all the way to the Top 4. That's pretty impressive with such
little representation in the tournament as a whole: the Khan brothers
continue to be some of the most remarkable players in the game.

As a result of YCS Atlanta, Magicians and Dinosaurs continued to be in
strong demand. But several different decks made use of the “Rescue”
monsters, and that catapulted them into the secondary market spotlight.
Meanwhile there was growing interest in some of the format's biggest trap
cards, and new tech traps, as some new trends from last week grew bigger
over the weekend.

Let's get to it! The following were the ten bestselling cards in the
TCGplayer Marketplace this weekend, from Friday to Monday morning.

Pendulum Effect : During your Main Phase: You can destroy this card, and if you do, take 1 "Timegazer Magician" from your hand or Deck, and either place it in your Pendulum Zone or Special Summon it. You can only use this effect of "Chronograph Sorcerer" once per turn.
Monster Effect : If a card(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, then you can Special Summon 1 monster from your hand. You can banish this card you control, plus 4 monsters from your hand, field, and/or Graveyard (1 each with "Pendulum Dragon", "Xyz Dragon", "Synchro Dragon", and "Fusion Dragon" in their names); Special Summon 1 "Supreme King Z-ARC" from your Extra Deck. (This is treated as a Fusion Summon.)

Featuring in Zombie Lightsworn, Invoked, ABC's, Trickstars, Magician FTK,
and both of the Finalist Pendulum Magician decks, Pot of Desires was in
almost everything at YCS Atlanta. While we often see players ease off of
Desires at the start of new formats that definitely didn't happen this time
around, as risks were taken to draw as many cards as possible.

The Ultra Rare reprint is up about 20 cents from its already rising price
last week, now at an average Market Price of $3.70. At this rate it could
crack the $4 mark and any day now.

While demand for Overtex Qoatlus fell a bit over the weekend in the face of
newer trends, it's still selling incredibly consistently, and Dinosaurs are
definitely alive and well moving forward from the Championship weekend.

Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by shuffling 5 of your banished Dinosaur monsters into the Main Deck. Once per turn, when your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card (Quick Effect): You can destroy 1 Dinosaur monster in your hand or face-up on your field, and if you do, negate that activation, and if you do that, destroy that card. If this card is sent to the GY by a card effect: You can add 1 "Evolution Pill" Spell from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Overtex Qoatlus" once per turn.

Played in Top 32 SPYRAL, Invoked, ABC's, Pendulum Magicians, and Lightsworn
Zombies, Underclock Taker was a bonafide hit at YCS Atlanta. Though it saw
surprisingly little play in logged Regional Top Cut decks leading into the
weekend, it definitely delivered the goods once Atlanta arrived. It's
already become one of the most-hoped-for Ultimate Rares for upcoming OTS
Pack releases.

2 Effect Monsters
Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster this card points to, and 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; the opponent's target loses ATK equal to the ATK of the target this monster points to, until the end of this turn.

Heading into the weekend as the focus of speculation, Full Force Virus
didn't make a notable impact at the YCS, but it did continue to sell by the
fistful.

Now set on a rising Price Trend across both its original Raging Battle printing and its 2017 Mega Pack reprint,
it's unclear where this card is headed. While it could be a misstep of the
market, it saw wider sales across more buyers this weekend than the week
previous, indicating rising adoption.

We'll have to wait and see if Full Force Virus has legs enough to carry it
through the week. At a price of about $2.50, it's still a really affordable
opportunity.

Tribute 1 DARK monster with 2000 or more DEF; check your opponent's hand, all monsters they control, and all cards they draw until the end of their 3rd turn after this card's activation, and destroy all those monsters with 1500 or less DEF.

Maintaining its $70 price point through the weekend, Heavymetalfoes
Electrumite dominated the Marketplace in a way that very few double-digit
value cards ever do. It's exceedingly rare to see a $12+ card rank this
high in our Top 10, let alone one worth six times that. An incredible
number of copies were sold in the wake of YCS Atlanta, and with duelists
buying into the Pendulum Magician theme that hard, we may start seeing
Pendulum Magicians occupying even more seats in upcoming Top Cuts.

Note that while Heavymetalfoes Electrumite moved hundreds of copies, there
are only about 50 left in the TCGplayer Marketplace as of this writing.
That could forecast a slowing number of sales this week due to lack of
supply, but it could also indicate a strong chance of a spike to 80 or 90
dollars in the near future.

2 Pendulum Monsters
If this card is Link Summoned: You can add 1 Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your Extra Deck face-up. Once per turn: You can target 1 other face-up card you control; destroy it, then add 1 face-up Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck to your hand. If a card(s) in your Pendulum Zone leaves the field: Draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Heavymetalfoes Electrumite" once per turn.

You can shuffle this card you control into the Deck; Special Summon monster(s) from your Deck, except "Rescue Ferret", whose total Levels equal 6, to your zone(s) a Link Monster(s) points to, but those Summoned monsters have their effects negated, also destroy them during the End Phase. You can only use this effect of "Rescue Ferret" once per turn.

With versatility across a range of strategies, and an approachable price
point of about 50 cents, the appeal was pretty easy to understand.
Pendulums are back in a big way, and Rescue Hamster's a surprisingly strong
element of the mechanic's comeback.

Pendulum Effect : You can banish this card from your Pendulum Zone; add 2 face-up Pendulum Monster Cards with the same name from your Extra Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Rescue Hamster" once per Duel.
Monster Effect : If this card was Normal Summoned this turn and you have a face-up Level 5 or lower Pendulum Monster Card in your Extra Deck: You can Tribute this card; choose 1 face-up Level 5 or lower Pendulum Monster Card in your Extra Deck, and Special Summon 2 monsters from your Deck with the same name as that card, but they have their effects negated, also they are destroyed during the End Phase.

Right now we have 13 of the Top 32 decks from Atlanta in the Deck Archive,
and 10 of them were Side Decking multiple copies of Dimensional Barrier.
That makes it more popular than Solemn Judgment and Torrential Tribute
combined. Be prepared for it, because nothing's going to be slowing down
demand for Barrier in the coming weeks.

Declare 1 monster card type (Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Pendulum); for the rest of this turn, neither player can Special Summon monsters of the declared type, also negate the effects of all monsters of that type while they are on the field. You can only activate 1 "Dimensional Barrier" per turn.

And finally, what started as a niche speculative trend last week became a
widespread frenzy, as Darklight exploded from 90 cents to over 5 dollars.
Appearing nowhere in the YCS Atlanta coverage, it's unclear whether
Darklight has real tournament potential or if the demand is simply the
result of massive hype in facebook buyer groups.

Tribute 1 DARK monster with 1500 or more ATK; destroy all monsters that were Special Summoned this turn.

Store

Condition

Qty Avail

Price

SuperGamesInc

1st Edition - Near Mint

1

$0.61

Game Cafe

Unlimited - Lightly Played

1

$2.38

Game Cafe

1st Edition - Lightly Played

2

$2.58

Blue Ox Games

1st Edition - Moderately Played

1

$2.70

Frogtown Hobbies

Unlimited - Lightly Played

3

$2.98

BoyleStreetGaming

1st Edition - Near Mint

1

$2.99

House of Lightning

1st Edition - Near Mint

1

$3.00

TCG Empire

Unlimited - Lightly Played

1

$3.15

Manatee Games

Unlimited - Near Mint

2

$3.33

Mystic Gaming

Unlimited - Near Mint

3

$3.33

Beyond the Top 10, Effect Veiler narrowly took the Number 11 spot as it saw
revitalized play in both Regionals and the YCS. Magicians took the Number
12 and Number 13 spots with Abyss Actor - Curtain Raiser and Mythical Beast
Master Cerberus, the latter being almost surprisingly successful in
Atlanta: 3 of the 7 Top 32 Magician builds we've logged so far played
Cerberus.

Finally we saw Mekk-Knight Purple Nightfall take the Number 14 spot, while
Proxy Dragon arrived at Number 15. Proxy actually seems to have taken a big
tumble in the new format; it may not be as ubiquitous as it once was.

As for speculation, no card ruled the roost like Lyrilusc – Independent
Nightingale. The lynchpin card in Colby Potts' Magician FTK, you copy its
effect with a pair of Supreme King Dragon Starving Venoms for an immediate
8000 burn damage. While Potts only made it to the Top 16 with that
gameplan, the sheer power level of the idea resounded with a wide spread of
players, driving hundreds of copies of Nightingale out the door.

As we continue to update the Deck Archive, the secondary market will
continue to shift in the wake of this weekend's Regionals and YCS Atlanta.
Join us again on Friday as we see which trends emerge, and which ones
subside, here in the TCGplayer Marketplace.

ABOUT TCGPLAYER

HOW CAN WE HELP?

All original content herein is Copyright 2016 Ascension Gaming Network, Inc. TCGplayer® and MaxPoint® are trademarks of Ascension Gaming Network, Inc.
No portion of this web site may be used without expressed written consent. All rights reserved.Magic the Gathering and its respective properties are copyright Wizards of the CoastPrivacy Policy | Terms of Service